In many applications it is desirable to estimate a projected area of a component. In one application, a projected area of a component is needed to predict an injection mold machine (i.e., press) tonnage necessary to mold such a component. One method to estimate such an area can include simplifying a drawing of the component into a plurality of known shapes, such as polygons. Each of the known shapes can then be summed to determine an area.
Another method can include drawing a boundary having a known shape around the component in the drawing. One exemplary boundary can be a rectangle. Next, a plurality of shapes having a known area can be placed on the non-component areas of the drawing. Exemplary shapes can be polygons. An area of each of the shapes can then be summed. The summed result can then be subtracted from the boundary area to determine a resultant component area. Such methods can be time consuming and are prone to error. What is needed is a relatively simple method to determine a two-dimensional area of a component in a drawing without requiring particular skill in the area of mathematics, CAD software manipulation or other more complicated calculations or systems.